Marilyn Brant's European tour stops here and we're giving away her latest novel!

**Giveaway is now closed**

We are thrilled to have Marilyn Brant back at Chick Lit Central. She was first here in the fall of 2010 to talk about "Friday Mornings at Nine." She's now sharing her latest novel, "A Summer in Europe" with us in a very cool way. Over the past month or so, she has gone on a blog tour by sharing a different European highlight at each stop. We are honored that she saved Paris for us, as Melissa P. is a huge fan of the city. We've also been featuring a lot of Paris themed novels lately, so it's a perfect fit!

Thanks to Kensington Books, we have TWO copies of "A Summer in Europe" for some lucky readers in the US or Canada.

You can visit Marilyn at her website and blog, as well as Facebook and Twitter. You can also read an excerpt from "A Summer in Europe."

Should you wish to travel the full book/trip itinerary with Marilyn, the stops include:

Friday 11/25: Rome at Magical Musings
Monday 11/28: Pompeii at SOS Aloha
Tuesday 11/29: Isle of Capri at The Stiletto Gang
Wednesday 11/30: Venice at Girlfriends Book Club
Thursday 12/1: Budapest at Women's Fiction Writers
Friday 12/2: Florence at Writer Unboxed
Monday 12/5: London at Austen Authors
Tuesday 12/6: Salzburg at Robin Bielman's Blog
Wednesday 12/7: Lake Como at Brant Flakes
Monday 12/12: French Riviera at Get Lost in a Story
Thursday 12/15: Pisa at Fly High
Wednesday 12/21: Vienna at What Women Write
Friday 12/30: Verona at Brant Flakes
Monday 1/9: Brussels at Uni-Verse-City

‘A Summer in Europe’ Adventure: Visiting Paris

First of all, many thanks to Melissa A and P, Amy and everyone at Chick Lit Central for inviting me to visit today. It’s wonderful to be here!

For the past month and a half, I’ve been celebrating the release of my third women's fiction book, "A Summer in Europe," by taking a journey around the web and talking about some of my favorite European sites, specifically the ones that appear in the new novel. The story is about a teacher named Gwendolyn Reese, who gets a month-long tour through Europe as a 30th birthday gift from her eccentric Aunt Bea and her aunt's Sudoku-and-Mahjongg Club. Gwen takes a chance and goes on the trip, and she soon finds herself zipping through famous capital cities, tasting wondrous regional dishes and meeting unusual people as she explores Italy, France, Switzerland, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Belgium and England.

One of the major cities Gwen visits late in the novel, and the place I’ve selected as my final stop for my blog/travel tour, is one of my European favorites: Paris. I usually hate to see a long trip come to an end but, if there must be a finale to the journey, the “City of Light” makes a lovely choice! I’ve been fortunate to visit Paris twice; both occasions were with my husband early in our marriage. Once upon a time, it had been the last city on our own grand European tour, back in the mid-1990s. My husband and I backpacked that summer from Munich to Vienna, all the way around Italy and up through the Swiss Alps to northern France. We then spent our last three uninterrupted days in Europe crisscrossing through Paris in every possible direction.

I still remember our hotel—a tiny inn near the Gare du Nord train station (really inexpensive!)—which had creaky wooden floors, a shared bathroom down the hall and a charming view of a neighborhood Parisian street. After picking up a tart or quiche from a shop nearby for breakfast, we’d trek into the center of town for the day…sometimes strolling, sometimes racing through the famous sites. I got to spend a little more time in the Louvre than my heroine does (she’s only given an hour to view the artistic masterpieces, while I had about five hours) but it still wasn’t long enough. That trip inspired me to learn to paint, so I wanted to see as much art as I could in the city, especially the Impressionists at the Orsay Museum, the Mona Lisa at the Louvre and the famous Rodin sculptures—all amazing.

My husband, who loves and teaches world history, insisted we visit Napoleon’s Tomb/Les Invalides, the site of the Bastille and the Place de la Concorde, but he also appreciated other major landmarks like the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral, Sacré-Coeur Basilica and the Luxembourg Palace and Gardens (the photo of me alone by the flowers was taken there). We saw as much as we could in between what I felt was our REAL Parisian task: to taste-test all of those great pastries!!

Special thanks to Marilyn for the armchair adventure and to Kensington for sharing "A Summer in Europe" with our readers.

How to win "A Summer in Europe":
Please comment below with your e-mail address. (Please note:Entries without an e-mail address will NOT be counted. You can use AT and DOT to avoid spam. Or provide a link to your facebook page or blog if you can receive messages there.)

Bonus entries (can be listed all in one post):
1. Please tell us: Do you have a favorite city anywhere in the world that sparks your imagination? One that calls to you and has you daydreaming of taking a trip there?
2. Follow this blog and post a comment saying you are a follower (if you already follow, that's fine too).
3. Post this contest on Facebook or Twitter or in your blog, and leave a comment saying where you've posted it.
4. Join Chick Lit Central on Facebook. Edit settings if you don't want to receive a lot of messages at your e-mail account. Please read our posting guidelines, as well. (If you're already a member, let us know that too.)
5. Add a friend to our Facebook group. (Tell us who you added.) Be sure to remind them to edit their settings.


US/Canada only. Giveaway ends January 16th at midnight EST.